ouse of the order. He had, only a few
days previous to his death, closed a most arduous but successful mission
in Philadelphia, where, but a short time previously, Rev. Father
McGivern was taken with his fatal illness through overwork in his
missionary labors. The remains of Father O'Brien were conveyed here by
Mr. Cleary, one of our undertakers, and reposed in the main aisle
fronting the altar of the Tremont Street basilica, during the evening
and night of November 11, where many thousands visited them in tears,
and rendered upward their silent and heartfelt prayers for the purposes
which animated his sanctified soul. The emblems of mourning in the
edifice, the varied and beautiful and artistic floral tributes, the
grief depicted on the features of young and old of the people, and many
other evidences, attested most unerringly the great bereavement which
the Catholics of Boston sustain by his death.

[Illustration: THE LATE REV. JOHN O'BRIEN, C. S.S. R.]

On the morning of the 12th, at 9 o'clock, the Redemptorist Fathers'
Church was thronged with a great congregation, and hundreds were unable
to get in when the office of the dead was recited. Over fifty priests
participated in the sanctuary devotions. The clergymen offering up the
Solemn High Mass of Requiem were as follows: Celebrant, Rev. Father
Welsh, C. SS. R.; deacon, Rev. Father Wynn, C. SS. R.; sub-deacon, Rev.
Father Lutz, C. SS. R.; master of ceremonies, Rev. Father Licking, C.
SS. R.; Father Licking also preached the panegyric. The Reverend Father
took for his text:

ECCLESIASTES xii. 5 and 7. "Man shall enter into the house of
his eternity, and the mourners shall go roundabout in the
street.... And the dust shall return to the earth from whence
it was, and the spirit shall return to God who gave it."

He began most impressively and substantially as follows: "What shall I
say to you on this sad occasion? How shall I find words to express the
sorrow and sadness, which I see depicted on your countenances? The
zealous, the learned, the whole-souled Redemptorist, Rev. John O'Brien,
is laid low on the bier of death. A young warrior has fallen on the
battle-field of duty. A strong worker has sunk beside the vines he was
preparing for the heavenly kingdom.

"Oh, brother, if thou hadst not died in the prime of youth! If thou
hadst not within thee the strength and energy to labor long and
successfully in thy sublime vocation! If thou hadst gro